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Lehrstuhl für Technische Thermodynamik, University of Kaiserslautern, D-67653 Kaiserslautern, Germany. New experimental results for the vapor-liquid ...
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J. Chem. Eng. Data 2005, 50, 1218-1223

New Experimental Results for the Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium of the Binary System (Trioxane + Water) and the Ternary System (Formaldehyde + Trioxane + Water) Michael Albert,†,‡ Hans Hasse,†,§ Christian Kuhnert,†,| and Gerd Maurer*,† Lehrstuhl fu¨r Technische Thermodynamik, University of Kaiserslautern, D-67653 Kaiserslautern, Germany

New experimental results for the vapor-liquid equilibrium of the binary system (trioxane + water) at 393 K and 413 K and the ternary system (formaldehyde + trioxane + water) at 413 K and around 450 kPa are reported and compared with predictions/correlations using a physicochemical model combining the UNIFAC equation for the Gibbs excess energy with chemical reaction equilibria. Revised parameters of the model for these systems are reported.

Introduction Trioxane is a cyclic trimer of formaldehyde. It is an important intermediate in the production of polyacetal plastics from formaldehyde. In the production of such polymers, formaldehyde is usually converted to trioxane in acidic aqueous solutions. Trioxane is recovered by distillation. The basic design of such processes requires, for example, a model for the vapor-liquid equilibrium of the chemical reactive system formaldehyde + water + trioxane. Continuing previous work on the phase equilibrium of aqueous and methanolic solutions of formaldehyde, this work presents new experimental data for the vaporliquid phase equilibrium of the binary system (trioxane + water) and the ternary system (formaldehyde + trioxane + water). Because reliable results for the binary vaporliquid equilibrium of (trioxane + water) were available only for temperatures between 338 K and 383 K (Serebrennaya and Byk,1 Kova´cˇ and Zˇ iak,2 Hasse et al.,3 Brandani et al.4) and recent process developments tend to perform separations at higher temperatures, the vapor-liquid equilibrium of the binary system (trioxane + water) was investigated at higher temperatures (i.e., at 393 K and 413 K). The experimental results are compared to predictions from a correlation of the vapor-liquid equilibrium that was parametrized at lower temperatures. Experimental results for the vapor-liquid equilibrium of multicomponent aqueous solutions of formaldehyde are also desired as modern separation processes for such mixtures run at elevated pressures (e.g., at around 0.5 MPa, corresponding to temperatures around 410 K). Because reliable experimental data for the vapor-liquid equilibrium of the ternary system (formaldehyde + trioxane + water) is available only for temperatures up to about 370 K and at rather low trioxane concentrations (up to about 8 mol %) (Maurer;5 Hasse et al.3), that vapor-liquid equilibrium was investigated at 413 K (and around 0.4 * Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. Phone: +49 631 205 2410. Fax: +49 631 205 3835. † University of Kaiserslautern. ‡ Current address: Degussa AG, 67547 Worms, Germany. § Current address: Institut fu ¨ r Techn. Thermodynamik und Thermische Verfahrenstechnik, Universita¨t Stuttgart, 70550 Stuttgart, Germany. | Current address: Robert Bosch GmbH, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany.

MPa) at rather low formaldehyde concentrations (between about 2 and 10 mol %) but up to high concentrations of trioxane (between about 1 and 90 mol %). The experimental data were at first compared to predictions from a previously published phase-equilibrium model (Hasse et al.3). However, because the predictions were not sufficiently accurate, the model was revised by adjusting some model parameters. Experimental Section Apparatus. A special thin-film evaporator apparatus was used for the vapor-liquid equilibrium experiments. That apparatus was used and described before (Hasse;6 Albert et al.7); therefore, only an outline is given here. The thin-film evaporator consists of a rotating coil (made up of glass-fiber reinforced Teflon) inside a stainless steel tube. That coil spreads a constant, thermostated liquid feed on the inner surface of the tube. The tube is heated from the outside by a liquid that is thermostated to a few kelvins above the temperature of the liquid feed. The heating results in a partial evaporation of the liquid feed at nearly constant pressure. That pressure is supplied by a backpressure regulator. For measurements above ambient pressure, the evaporator chamber is pressurized from a storage tank (filled with nitrogen gas). For measurements at lower pressures, the storage tank is replaced by a buffer container that is connected to a vacuum pump and a nitrogen flask. After passing the heated section of the tube, the coexisting and equilibrated phases are separated. The liquid phase is subcooled, and the gaseous phase is completely condensed. Both are separately collected in vials. The temperature was measured (with an accuracy of (0.1 K) with a calibrated platinum resistance thermometer. The pressure was measured with a calibrated pressure transducer with a maximum uncertainty of (0.5 kPa. Samples of the coexisting phases of the binary system (trioxane + water) were analyzed by gas chromatography by applying the internal standard procedure. Commercially available equipment from Hewlett-Packard (GC: HP 5890 A; capillary column: Ultra 2, l ) 50 m, d ) 0.2 mm, s ) 0.33 µm; thermal conductivity cell; integrator: HP 3390A; autosampler model HP-7673) was used. The internal standard was dioxane. The concentration of trioxane in the

10.1021/je050015i CCC: $30.25 © 2005 American Chemical Society Published on Web 05/18/2005

Journal of Chemical and Engineering Data, Vol. 50, No. 4, 2005 1219 liquid (vapor) phase was between 0.4 (2.0) and 76 (48) mol %. The maximum relative uncertainty of the experimental results for the concentration of trioxane is (4%. Samples of the coexisting phases of the ternary system (formaldehyde + trioxane + water) were analyzed - for formaldehyde by wet chemistry by applying the sodium sulfite method (Walker8) and - for trioxane by gas chromatography using the equipment described before, but with a packed column (Porapak T, l ) 6 ft, 80/100 mesh from Alltech, Unterhaching, Germany). The stoichiometric concentration of formaldehyde in the liquid (vapor) phase was between 2.2 (5.8) and 13.7 (19.5) mol %. The stoichiometric concentration is defined here as the overall concentration (i.e., neglecting all chemical reactions). The maximum relative uncertainty of the experimental results for the concentration of formaldehyde is (2%. The concentration of trioxane in the liquid (vapor) phase was between 1.1 (3.8) and 90 (57) mol %. The maximum relative uncertainty of the experimental results for the concentration of trioxane is (4%. The concentration of water was not determined independently but calculated from the mass balance. However, in a few cases (especially for the samples with lower water concentration), the results (and its uncertainty) were checked and confirmed by Karl Fischer titration. Materials and Sample Preparation. The liquid feed mixtures of trioxane and water were prepared by gravimetric analysis. The liquid feed mixtures of (formaldehyde + trioxane + water) were also gravimetrically prepared from trioxane and aqueous solutions of formaldehyde. Aqueous solutions of formaldehyde were prepared by boiling paraformaldehyde in deionized water at a high pH. The turbid solution was filtered, and the stoichiometric formaldehyde concentration was determined by wet chemistry (cf. above). The aqueous solutions of formaldehyde were additionally analyzed by gas chromatography, but no significant impurities were detected. Trioxane (min 99% specified by GC) and paraformaldehyde (puriss.) were from Merck GmbH, Darmstadt, Germany, and used as supplied. Experimental Results The new experimental results for the vapor-liquid equilibrium of the binary system (trioxane + water) are given in Table 1. As expected, this binary system reveals azeotropic behavior. The new experimental results for the vapor-liquid equilibrium of the ternary system (formaldehyde + trioxane + water) are given in Table 2 and shown in Figures 4 and 5. In the investigated range of states (i.e., at low formaldehyde concentrations), formaldehyde is always the most volatile component, followed either by water (at high concentrations of water) or by trioxane (at high concentrations of trioxane), as was expected from the azeotropic behavior of the binary system (trioxane + water). Correlation and Comparison with Literature Data Maurer5 described the vapor-liquid equilibrium of the binary system (trioxane + water) by combining the UNIFAC equation for the Gibbs excess energy (Fredenslund et al.9) for the liquid mixture with the assumption that the vapor phase behaves like an ideal gas. Because water and trioxane were treated as pure components, the UNIFAC model reduces to the UNIQUAC model by Abrams and Prausnitz.10 Hasse et al.3 revised the UNIFAC parameters

Table 1. Experimental and Correlation Results for the Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium of the Binary System (Trioxane (1) + Water (2)) T/K

x˜ 1

y˜ 1,exptl

y˜1,calcd

393.2 393.2 393.1 393.0 412.2 412.5 413.2 413.2 413.1 413.2 413.1 413.2 413.1 413.2 413.0 413.2 413.2 413.0 413.1 413.1 ∆ h σ

0.0345 0.0396 0.0953 0.4983 0.0040 0.0071 0.0110 0.0132 0.0192 0.0211 0.0319 0.0546 0.1007 0.1009 0.1212 0.3210 0.4342 0.4360 0.5267 0.7619

0.1396 0.1511 0.2353 0.3482 0.0199 0.0308 0.0435

0.1464 4.9 0.1595 5.6 0.2441 3.7 0.3366 -3.3 0.0214 7.6 0.0367 19 0.0538 24 0.0629 0.0854 17 0.0920 11 0.1244 9.7 0.1732 6.6 0.2285 8.9 0.2286 18 0.2432 5.6 0.2954 -16 0.3137 -14 0.3141 -3.8 0.3348 -2.6 0.4512 -5.2 5.2 12

0.0732 0.0827 0.1134 0.1624 0.2098 0.1933 0.2303 0.3516 0.3629 0.3266 0.3437 0.4757

∆y˜ 1/% pexptl/kPa pcalcd/kPa ∆p/% 226.8 226.9 246.2 252.3 363.9 371.2 383.4 390.0 394.6 399.6 409.0 432.1 441.9 441.1 445.9 450.1 385.2

226.2 228.6 245.2 250.8 357.9 365.5 378.6 381.8 387.5 391.1 400.9 419.1 436.3 447.9 439.9 450.4 447.6 445.6 439.4 385.4

-0.3 0.8 -0.4 -0.6 -1.7 -1.5 -1.3 -2.1 -1.8 -2.1 -2.0 -3.0 -1.3 -0.7 -1.3 -1.0 0.1 -1.2 1.5

on the basis of more experimental data that covered the temperature range from about 338 K to 383 K. As has been shown by Albert,11 that model also gives reliable predictions for the vapor-liquid equilibrium at 393 K and 413 K. In the meantime, the experimental data basis was extended by Brandani et al.,4 the set of UNIQUAC parameters was revised by fitting to the experimental results by Hasse et al.3 (at 93 kPa) and Brandani et al.4 (at temperatures between 338 K and 368 K) and those of the present work (at 393 K and 413 K). The vapor pressure of each pure component was approximated by the Antoine equation. The Antoine parameters are given in Table 3 together with the pure-component UNIFAC parameters. The UNIFAC interaction parameters are given in Table 4. For fixed temperature and liquid-phase composition, the new correlation represents the new vapor-liquid equilibrium data of the binary system trioxane + water (given in Table 1) with standard deviations of 12% (for the mostly small vapor-phase mole fraction of trioxane) and 1.5% (for the total pressure). The largest deviations are observed for the vapor-phase mole fraction of trioxane above water-rich solutions at 413 K, where the correlation overshoots the experimental data resulting in relative deviations of about 20%. The new correlation gives very good agreement with the literature data. The data of Serebrennaya and Byk1 (and of Kova´cˇ and Zˇ iak2) are represented (when the liquid composition and the pressure - 101 kPa - are set) with standard deviations of 9% (and 6.4%) in the vapor-phase mole fraction of trioxane and maximum deviations in the temperature of 0.9 K (and 0.4 K). The experimental results reported by Hasse et al.3 (at 93 kPa) are described (when the liquid-phase composition and the pressure are set) with a standard deviation of 3.2% in the trioxane concentration in the vapor phase and a maximum deviation of 0.4 K in the temperature. The experimental results for the total pressure given by Brandani et al.4 for 338 K, 348 K, 358 K, and 368 K are described (when the liquid-phase composition and the temperature are set) with standard deviations of 1.4%, 0.9%, 1.3%, and 1.7%, respectively. As a typical example, Figure 2 shows a comparison with the experimental data of Brandani et al.4 at 358 K. The correlation for the vapor-liquid equilibrium of the ternary system (formaldehyde + trioxane + water) is an extension of the phase equilibrium model for the binary system (formaldehyde + water). That model has been

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Table 2. Experimental and Correlation Resultsfor the Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium of the Ternary System (Formaldehyde (1) + Trioxane (2) + Water (3)) T/K

x˜ 1

x˜ 2

y˜ 1,exptl

y˜ 1,calcd

∆y˜ 1/%

y˜ 2,exptl

y˜ 2,calcd

∆y˜ 2/%

pexptl/kPa

pcalcd/kPa

∆p/%

413.1 413.2 413.2 413.1 413.1 413.1 413.1 413.1 413.2 413.2 413.2 413.3

0.1091 0.1056 0.1368 0.0400 0.0609 0.0854 0.0468 0.0241 0.0357 0.0308 0.0306 0.0224 ∆ h σ

0.0110 0.0478 0.0587 0.0925 0.0933 0.0953 0.2084 0.3206 0.4691 0.5280 0.6541 0.8975

0.1865 0.1711 0.1994 0.0789 0.1070 0.1385 0.0856 0.0563 0.0943 0.0901 0.0936 0.1673

0.1967 0.1736 0.1996 0.0821 0.1119 0.1403 0.0906 0.0607 0.0889 0.0865 0.1034 0.1693 2.7 5.4

5.4 1.5 0.1 4.0 4.6 1.3 5.8 7.9 -5.7 -4.0 10 1.2

0.0378 0.1364 0.1466 0.1953 0.2013 0.1939 0.2509 0.2812 0.3196 0.3030 0.3766 0.5711

0.0413 0.1311 0.1421 0.2041 0.1994 0.1952 0.2603 0.2878 0.3078 0.3217 0.3619 0.5692 0.9 4.5

9.2 -3.8 -3.1 4.5 -0.9 0.7 3.7 2.4 -3.7 6.2 -3.9 -0.3

427.9 462.9 478.8 461.0 470.1 478.9 478.8 471.9 474.0 465.0 462.2 364.5

425.2 455.7 466.9 453.6 461.9 469.5 472.3 465.6 468.8 463.4 446.8 345.4 -1.9 2.4

-0.6 -1.6 -2.5 -1.6 -1.7 -2.0 -1.4 -1.4 -1.1 -0.4 -3.3 -5.2

Figure 3. Scheme for modeling the vapor-liquid equilibrium in ternary mixtures of (formaldehyde + trioxane + water).

Figure 1. Trioxane + water: new results for the vapor-liquid equilibrium of the binary system at 413 K: O, exptl results; -, correlation.

Figure 4. Vapor-liquid equilibrium of the ternary system (formaldehyde + trioxane + water) at 413 K: comparison between experimental and calculated results for the vapor-phase composition (calculation for given temperature and stoichiometric liquidphase composition). 0, Liquid phase, experimental results; O and b, vapor phase, experimental and calculated results, respectively.

(oxymethylene) glycols (HO(CH2O)iH, i > 1; here also MGi):

CH2O + H2O h HOCH2OH Figure 2. Vapor pressure p above aqueous solutions of (trioxane + water) at 358 K: comparison between the experimental results of Brandani et al.4 and the correlation of the present work.

described in detail in previous publications (cf. Maurer5 and Albert et al.13,14). Therefore, only an outline of that model is repeated here. Figure 3 shows a scheme of the vapor-liquid equilibrium of the ternary system (formaldehyde + trioxane + water). Formaldehyde is a very reactive compound. Upon dissolution in water, nearly all formaldehyde is converted to a wide variety of poly(oxymethylene glycols) in equilibrium reactions. The most important chemical reaction products are methylene glycol (HOCH2OH; here also MG) and poly-

(I)

HO(CH2O)i - 1H + HOCH2OH h HO(CH2O)iH + H2O i > 1 (II) In the physicochemical model developed previously (Maurer5), it is assumed that the liquid phase is a mixture of water, (very little molecular) formaldehyde, methylene glycol, and a large variety of poly(oxymethylene) glycols. The chemical reaction equilibria are combined with physical interactions resulting in a powerful tool for describing vapor-liquid equilibria and caloric properties of formaldehyde-containing mixtures. This model has been continuously updated, and its application range has been extended over the last two decades as new reliable data became

Journal of Chemical and Engineering Data, Vol. 50, No. 4, 2005 1221 available from high-resonance-frequency nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy (cf. Balashov et al.,15 Albert et al.,14 Maiwald et al.16). Information on the chemical equilibrium due to reaction I in the vapor phase is also available (from volumetric investigations of the gaseous phases of formaldehyde and water).

K gas 1 )

yMG p(0) yFAyW p

(3)

That equilibrium constant K gas is converted to the equi1 librium constant in the liquid phase K1 through

K1 )

ps gas FA K1 s pMG

psW p

(0)

(4)

Figure 5. Vapor-liquid equilibrium of the ternary system (formaldehyde + trioxane + water) at about 368 K: comparison between experimental (Maurer5) and calculated results for the vapor-phase composition (calculation for given temperature and stoichiometric liquid-phase composition). 0, Liquid phase, experimental results; O and b, vapor phase, experimental and calculated results, respectively.

The corresponding equilibrium constants were taken from previous work (Albert et al.,14 Kuhnert12):

Table 3. Vapor Pressure of Pure Components (ln pis ) Ai + Bi/T/K + Ci) and UNIFAC Size (ri) and Surface (qi) Parameters of Pure Components/Groups component/group i

Ai

Bi

Ci

ri

qi

formaldehydea watera trioxaneb methylene glycolc OH CH2

14.4625 16.2886 14.3796 17.4364

-2204.13 -3816.44 -3099.47 -4762.07

-30.15 -46.13 -68.92 -51.21

0.9183 0.920 2.754 2.6744 1.00 0.6744

0.78 1.40 3.30 2.94 1.20 0.54

a

Reid et al.17

b

Albert.11

c

Kuhnert.12

Table 4. Group Assignment and UNIFAC Interaction Parameters group number component/group formaldehyde water trioxane methylene glycol poly(oxymethylene)glycol HO(CH2O)nH (n >1)

1 2 3 4 5 6 CH2O H2O C3H6O3 HO(CH2O)H OH CH2 1 1 1 1 n-1 2 1

available. The chemical reaction equilibrium is expressed through chemical reaction equilibrium constants for the formation of methylene glycol from formaldehyde and water (reaction I) in the liquid phase

K1 )

aMG xMG γMG ) aFAaW xFAxW γFAγW

(1)

and for the formation of poly(oxymethylene) glycols

Kn )

aMGnaW aMGn - 1aMG

)

xMGnxW

γMGnγW

xMGn - 1xMG γMGn - 1γMG (n ) 2, 3, 4, 5, ...) (2)

Activities ai are normalized according to Raoult’s law (i.e., the reference state is the pure liquid at system temperature and pressure). However, the influence of pressure on the activity of a component in the liquid phase is neglected. Information on the chemical reaction equilibrium in aqueous solutions of formaldehyde caused by reactions (II) is

ln K gas 1 ) -16.984 - 5233.2/(T/K)

(5)

ln K2 ) 0.005019 + 834.5/(T/K)

(6)

ln Kn ) 0.01312 + 542.1/(T/K) for all n g 3

(7)

The vapor pressures of formaldehyde and methylene glycol were also taken from previous work (cf. Table 3). As discussed in previous publications (Kova´cˇ et al.3, Maurer,5 Hasse,7 Albert et al.,13 Albert et al.14), the vapor phase is treated as a mixture of ideal gases (water, formaldehyde, and methylene glycol). The Gibbs excess energy of the liquid mixture is described by the UNIFAC group contribution method. The group assignment, the size, and surface parameters of the groups and the group interaction parameters are given in Tables 3 and 4. The model gives a good representation of vapor-liquid equilibrium data in binary systems of formaldehyde and water over the entire composition and temperature ranges where reliable experimental data is available. Deviations between measured and calculated values are typically below 5% for the partition coefficient of formaldehyde and 2% for the pressure. In the extension of that model to the ternary system (formaldehyde + trioxane + water), trioxane is considered to be an inert substance. The vapor phase is still treated as an ideal gas mixture, and the Gibbs excess energy of the liquid phase is also described by the UNIFAC model. For applying the model, the UNIFAC parameters for interactions between trioxane on one side and either methylene glycol or (the groups of) poly(oxymethylene) glycols on the other side are also required. In previous work, these additional UNIFAC parameters were estimated by the parameters for interactions between - formaldehyde (instead of trioxane) on one side and either the OH- or the CH2- group on the other side and - water (instead of trioxane) on one side and methylene glycol on the other side, whereas - no difference was made for interactions between formaldehyde on one side and trioxane on the other side (i.e., the UNIFAC parameters for interactions between formaldehyde and trioxane were set to zero). In the present modification, the first two assumptions were adopted, but nonzero parameters for interactions between formaldehyde and trioxane were introduced. These two interaction parameters were adjusted to give a good representation of the new experimental results for the vapor-liquid equilibrium for the ternary system (formaldehyde + trioxane + water) at temperatures between 343

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Table 5. UNIFAC Interaction Parameters ai,j/K group i group j 1 2 3 4 5 6

1 -254.5a a3,1(T)b 59.20c 28.06c 251.5c

2 867.8a 379.4 -191.8c 353.5c 1318c

3

4

a1,3(T)b 189.2c 80.63 189.5c 379.4d 80.63d 28.06e 353.5c 251.5f 1318c

5

6

237.7c -229.1c 237.7e -229.1c

83.36c 300.0c 83.36f 300.0c 156.4c

986.5c

a Kuhnert.12 b a (T) ) 554.9 - 2.476(T/K); a (T) ) 16 980.0 1,3 3,1 - 39.47(T/K). c Albert et al.13 d Approximated by parameters for interactions between trioxane and water. e Approximated by parameters for interactions between CH2O and OH. f Approximated by parameters for interactions between CH2O and CH2.

K and 413 K. The influence of temperature on these parameters was also taken into account. The final set of UNIFAC interaction parameters is given in Table 5. The comparison between the results of the correlation and the new experimental data is given in Table 2. For the experimentally determined temperature and liquidphase composition, the standard deviations between the calculated and measured data for the vapor-phase concentrations of formaldehyde and trioxane amount to 5.4% and 4.5%, respectively. For the pressure, that standard deviation is 2.4%. Figure 4 shows some selected but typical comparisons (for the composition of the vapor phase). A similar comparison for the experimental results reported by Hasse et al.3 (for data points at around 343 K and 32 kPa) results in standard deviations of 2.5%, 5.3%, and 0.7% for the vapor-phase concentrations of formaldehyde and trioxane and the pressure, respectively. In comparison to the experimental data reported by Maurer5 (26 data points at around 369 K and 100 kPa), the standard deviations are 4,8%, 8.3%, and 2.0% for the vapor-phase concentrations of formaldehyde and trioxane and the pressure, respectively. A typical comparison with some of the concentration data reported by Maurer5 is shown in Figure 5. The agreement between the correlation results and the experimental data is considered to be satisfactory, in particular with respect to the experimental difficulties encountered in such investigations of formaldehydecontaining solutions. Conclusions The new experimental data for the vapor-liquid equilibrium of the binary system (trioxane + water) and the ternary system (formaldehyde + trioxane + water) and the correlation based on that data may be used for the design of separation equipment in the production of polyacetal plastics from formaldehyde. Extensions of the model to include other components that are important in the production process of polyacetals are in progress currently. Acknowledgment We gratefully acknowledge the support by Dipl.-Ing. Silke Breyer in some parts of the preparation of the manuscript. Nomenclature

Ai ) parameter of the vapor-pressure equation ai ) thermodynamic activity of species i (normalized according to Raoult’s law) ai,j ) UNIFAC parameter for interactions between groups i and j Bi ) parameter of the vapor-pressure equation Ci ) parameter of the vapor-pressure equation

K1 ) equilibrium constant for reaction I in the liquid phase K2 ) equilibrium constant for reaction II (n ) 2) Kn ) equilibrium constant for reaction II (n g 3) K gas 1 ) equilibrium constant for reaction I in the vapor phase MG ) methylene glycol MGn ) poly(oxymethylene) glycol consisting of n formaldehyde groups N ) number of experimental points n ) number of formaldehyde groups p ) pressure p(0) ) 101.35 kPa standard pressure pis ) vapor pressure of component i r ) UNIFAC size parameter q ) UNIFAC surface parameter T ) temperature xi ) mole fraction of species i in the liquid phase xji ) stoichiometric mole fraction of component i in the liquid phase yi ) mole fraction of species i in the vapor phase yji ) stoichiometric mole fraction of component i in the vapor phase Greek Symbols ∆z ) 100(zcalcd - zexptl)/zexptl ) relative deviation between experimental result and a calculated number for property z N

4z ) (100/N) ∑ ((zcalcd - zexptl)/zexptl)i ) average relative i)1

deviation between experimental results and calculation results for property z γi ) activity coefficient of species i (normalized according to Raoult’s law) N

σ ) 100(1/(N -1) ∑ ((zcalcd - zexptl)/zexptl)i2)1/2 ) standard i)1

deviation of property z Subscripts calcd ) calculated result exptl ) experimental result FA ) formaldehyde MG ) methylene glycol MGn ) poly(oxymethylene) glycol consisting of n formaldehyde groups TRI ) trioxane W ) water Literature Cited (1) Serebrennaya, I. I.; Byk, S. Sh. Liquid-Vapor Equilibrium in the System Trioxane - Water under Atmospheric Pressure. Zh. Prikl. Khim. 1966, 39, 1869-1872. (2) Kova´cˇ, A.; Zˇ iak, J. Rovnovaha Kvapalinia - para Sustavy Trioxan - Voda. Petrochemia 1970, 10, 77-80. (3) Hasse, H.; Hahnenstein, I.; Maurer, G. Revised Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium Model for Multicomponent Formaldehyde Mixtures. AIChE J. 1990, 36, 1807-1814. (4) Brandani, S.; Brandani, V.; Flammini, V. Isothermal VaporLiquid Equilibrium for the Water-1,3,5-Trioxane System. J. Chem. Eng. Data 1994, 39, 184-185. (5) Maurer, G. Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium of Formaldehyde- and Water Containing Multicomponent Mixtures. AIChE J. 1986, 32, 932-948. (6) Hasse, H. Dampf-Flu¨ssigkeits-Gleichgewichte, Enthalpien und Reaktions-kinetik in formaldehydhaltigen Mischungen. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Kaiserslautern, Germany, 1990. (7) Albert, M.; Hahnenstein, I.; Hasse, H.; Maurer, G. Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium of Formaldehyde Mixtures: New Experimental Data and Model Revision. AIChE J. 1996, 42, 1741-1752. (8) Walker J. F. Formaldehyde, 3rd ed.; Reinhold: New York, 1964. (9) Fredenslund, Aa.; Jones, R. L.; Prausnitz, J. M. Group-Contribution Estimation of Activity Coefficients in Nonideal Liquid Mixtures. AIChE J. 1975, 21, 1086-1099.

Journal of Chemical and Engineering Data, Vol. 50, No. 4, 2005 1223 (10) Abrams, D. S.; Prausnitz, J. M. Statistical Thermodynamics of Liquid Mixtures: A New Expression for the Excess Gibbs Energy of Partly or Completely Miscible Systems. AIChE J. 1975, 21, 116-128. (11) Albert, M. Thermodynamische Eigenschaften formaldehydhaltiger Mischungen. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Kaiserslautern, Germany, 1998 (Shaker: Aachen, Germany, 1998). (12) Kuhnert, Ch. Dampf-Flu¨ssigkeits-Gleichgewichte in mehrkomponentigen formaldehydhaltigen Systemen. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Kaiserslautern, Germany, 2004 (Shaker: Aachen, Germany, 2004). (13) Albert, M.; Coto Garcia, B.; Kuhnert, Ch.; Peschla, R.; Maurer, G. Vapor-Liquid Equilibria for Aqueous Solutions of Formaldehyde and Methanol. AIChE J. 2000, 46, 1676-1687. (14) Albert, M.; Coto Garcia, B.; Kreiter, C.; Maurer, G. Vapor-liquid and chemical equilibria of formaldehyde-water mixtures. AIChE J. 1999, 45, 2024-2033.

(15) Balashov, A. L.; Danov, S. M.; Golovkin, A. Yu.; Krasnov, V. L.; Ponomarev, A. N.; Borisova, I. A. Equilibrium Mixtures of of Polyoxmethylene Glycols in Concentrated Aqueous Formaldehyde Solutions. Russ. J. Appl. Chem. 1996, 69, 190-192. (16) Maiwald, M.; Fischer, H. H.; Ott, M.; Peschla, R.; Kuhnert, Ch.; Kreiter, C. G.; Maurer, G.; Hasse, H. Quantitative NMRSpectroscopy of Complex Liquid Mixtures: Methods and Results for Chemical Equilibria in Formaldehyde-Water-Methanol at Temperatures up to 383 K. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2003, 42, 259266. (17) Reid, R. C.; Prausnitz, J. M.; Sherwood, T. K. The Properties of Gases and Liquids, 3rd ed.; McGraw-Hill Book Company: New York, 1977. Received for review January 11, 2005. Accepted April 13, 2005.

JE050015I